A Second Encounter with the Bronze Ancient Hall, the Forbidden Ground of the Night Moon Kingdom

Following Hu Zhan, the group walked for a long time before finally reaching a valley.

Sensing countless powerful auras around them, Chen Changsheng asked in confusion,

"Brother Hu, what is this place?"

"This is the Night Moon Kingdom's Forbidden Ground, and the trial site for the Son-in-law Recruitment Assembly."

"Deep within it grows an Other Shore Flower. Whoever plucks it will earn the right to marry Princess Wanyan."

"So that's how it is!"

"Then why haven't we seen any of the other Demon Race contestants?"

Hu Zhan replied, "They've already gone in. I came specifically to fetch you, Brother Chen, so I haven't entered yet."

"Oh!"

"So it was because of me that you were delayed, Brother Hu. I'm terribly ashamed."

"Come now!"

"Don't blame yourself, Brother Chen. We took to each other the moment we met. A little thing like this is nothing."

"Besides, going in first doesn't necessarily give them an advantage. Whoever gets the Other Shore Flower wins."

With that, Hu Zhan led Chen Changsheng into the Night Moon Kingdom's Forbidden Ground.

After passing through a long gorge, Chen Changsheng and Hu Zhan entered a dense forest filled with towering ancient trees.

The sweltering heat and drifting miasma seemed to speak of the danger lurking there.

Hu Zhan glanced at Chen Changsheng but offered no warning.

The miasma in the Forbidden Ground had a tremendous effect on cultivators.

Even Golden Core cultivators were not immune.

Hu Zhan could stand there unharmed only because of his Demon Race constitution.

A human who came here would probably die without a sound in less than half a day.

"Tsk, tsk!"

"The Night Moon Kingdom's Forbidden Ground lives up to its reputation. It's dangerous indeed."

After surveying their surroundings, Chen Changsheng remarked casually, then took two pills from his robes.

He swallowed one and slipped the other into Little White Wolf's mouth.

"Brother Hu, this is no ordinary miasma. I have a specially made Antidote Pill. Would you like one?"

As he spoke, Chen Changsheng took out another pill and offered it to him.

Seeing that Chen Changsheng had recognized the miasma's danger, Hu Zhan said with a look of chagrin,

"If you hadn't mentioned it, Brother Chen, I nearly would have forgotten."

"The miasma here is formidable. Even Golden Core cultivators aren't immune."

"But my fox constitution is robust, so there's no need to waste your pill on me."

Smiling, Hu Zhan pushed Chen Changsheng's pill back toward him.

Swallowing something of unknown origin could get him killed.

"By the way, Brother Chen, this miasma should be unique to the Night Moon Kingdom's Forbidden Ground. How did you recognize it?"

"Could it be that you've been here before?"

Chen Changsheng smiled at Hu Zhan's question.

"Naturally, I've never been to the Night Moon Kingdom's Forbidden Ground."

"But I once read a similar account in an ancient book by an unknown author. It described scenery from various places."

"One of those places was rather like this one."

"I see. How interesting."

"As far as I know, no outsider has entered the Night Moon Kingdom's Forbidden Ground in the past five hundred years."

"Who wrote that ancient book you saw, Brother Chen?"

"I couldn't tell you. When I found it, the book had almost rotted away."

"Perhaps it was written more than five hundred years ago."

"That makes sense. Let's get moving."

"Lin Hu and the others have been inside for a while now."

Hu Zhan waved his right hand, and a Nascent Soul Realm puppet appeared ahead to clear the way.

Looking at the lifeless puppet, a flicker of emotion crossed Chen Changsheng's eyes.

Deep within the Forbidden Ground.

A bald man sat cross-legged above a pitch-black pool.

The liquid in the pool was thick and occasionally gave off a fishy stench.

"Yixiu, your Heartless Sutra won't hold much longer."

At the sound of the voice, Bald Head slowly opened his eyes.

"Wolf King, letting the Demon Race draw upon such calamitous power will only bring them to ruin."

"There's still time to turn back."

The Wolf King sneered. "Turn back?"

"Why should I? Power is power. What distinction between good and evil could there be?"

"Without this power, how could I destroy the Great Qian Dynasty?"

"Though we belong to different races, I admire you greatly. If you'll leave the darkness and join me, I'll help you reach Spirit Transformation."

Yixiu shook his head at the offer, then closed his eyes again.

Seeing that Yixiu still refused to yield, the Wolf King paid it no mind.

It had taken him three hundred years to tear open a crack in the Forbidden Ground's seal.

Though it was only a narrow crack, the power spilling out had surpassed anything he had imagined.

With that power's help, the number of cultivators in the Night Moon Kingdom had more than doubled.

Unfortunately, word had somehow leaked out.

The two old fellows from the Heavenly Buddha Temple and the Linglong Sect had been willing to sacrifice their lives to seal the crack again.

Though he had done everything he could to stop them, they had still closed most of it.

Now Yixiu held down the last opening, and the Wolf King did not dare act rashly.

If Yixiu threw his life away to close it, the last opening might be sealed. Breaking through the seal again would be far from simple.

At the thought, the Wolf King's face darkened.

"Elder Turtle, have you still not found out who that human is?"

"Wolf King, there is no record of him in the Great Qian Dynasty."

"Perhaps the name he gave was an alias."

"Hmph!"

"Let him strut around for a few more days. Once the Blood Sacrifice is complete, no one under heaven will be able to stop me."

"Then, whether Human Race or Demon Race, everyone will bow before me."

As the Wolf King made his grand declaration, Elder Turtle kept his head lowered. No one knew what he was thinking.

At the Bronze Ancient Hall in the Forbidden Ground.

Chen Changsheng and the others encountered Lin Hu again.

When two sides that could not stand each other met, tensions naturally rose to a breaking point.

But Chen Changsheng ignored the barbs Lin Hu and Hu Zhan traded and instead examined the Bronze Ancient Hall before him.

"You two, instead of thinking about how to kill each other, why not take a good look at these ruins?"

Lin Hu snapped, "Stop trying to act mysterious. There was a road to heaven, but you refused to take it; with no gate to hell, you forced your way in."

"Today is the day you die, Chen Changsheng."

Lin Hu's words badly disrupted Chen Changsheng's thoughts. He turned his head impatiently and said,

"I know you want to kill me, but could you wait a moment?"

"Can't you see I'm studying something?"

With that, Chen Changsheng turned back to the patterns and inscriptions on the Bronze Ancient Hall.

Lin Hu: "..."

What do you mean, wait a moment? I'm trying to kill you right now. Could you take this seriously?